


Why Dont Things Ever Go Smooth-Like?

by silmarienmiriel



Category: Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 11:31:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12107799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silmarienmiriel/pseuds/silmarienmiriel
Summary: Mal has to stay on the ship while his crew runs a job for Badger.This'll work out just great....





	Why Dont Things Ever Go Smooth-Like?

“Kaylee!” came the unmistakable voice of Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds, captain of the Firefly Vessel Serenity, echoing down the hallway somewhere between the bridge and the engine room. Come to think of it, it could have been coming from the galley…or his cabin…or the cargo hold…or maybe the infirmary. Come to think of it, there were a lot of places where one could yell from in a ship like that.

“Kaylee!” the cry continued, getting more urgent, if that was at all possible. 

As the cry went up a third time, Mal hopped into sight from the direction of the engine room, in visible pain. Both his hands were clutching his left ankle over the long brown boot he always wore and sweat was pooling on his brow as he hopped along the bridge on the other foot. Grabbing hold of the hand rail to support himself, he tried to stay calm as he dragged himself to the kitchen and sat down heavily in a chair. 

“Gorramit…” he muttered under his breath as he nursed his ankle by sticking it on the top of the kitchen table to elevate it. Some term he’d heard that chunrén doctor use during one of their sojourns out to complete a job. 

Letting the ankle rest on it and wondering briefly if this would piss off Inara if she went past, he rested his shoulders against the back of the chair as he pondered the job offer he’d gotten via wave before he’d gone to ask Kaylee a question and injured his ruttin’ ankle on her engine room. Badger had sent a wave asking him and his fine crew to set down on Persephone for the prospect of a job. Since they were running low on everything imaginable, the primary buffer panel was threatening to fall off their ship yet again and the doctor kept complaining about how few supplies he had to patch up all their wounds an’ the like, a job sounded hella shiny right now. 

Provided he hadn’t broken his guo cao de ankle. Rubbing his brow, Mal sighed and shifted his ankle on the table. He instantly regretted it, as it sent shooting pain up his leg and he cursed out loud.

“Gorramit! Da Shiong La Se La Chwohn Tian!”

“Cap’n, you okay?” Kaylee’s voice came as she entered the kitchen with Simon following after he like he often did when they had nothing to do. The young doctor seemed a mighty bit more interested than he should be in the young mechanic, although she was certainly a catch.

Mal sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “No Kaylee, I am not. And speaking of things not okay, what the hell's going on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?”

“Space monkeys?” Kaylee looked at him blankly, while Simon started to probe the ankle gently.

“How did you do it?” the young doctor asked. “It feels like you might have broken it.”

“Well, Doctor Tam here’s pretty smart Kaylee,” Mal got out between yelps of pain. “Y’see, I went down to let you know that we’re gonna be stopping in Persephone soon and to make sure everything’s set up for it and you’ve got enough parts. But see, when I got there, there were things everywhere and no Kaylee and are you sure there were no space monkeys?”

Kaylee smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be silly cap’n. There’s no such thing as space monkeys. Now you let Simon here check out your ankle and I’ll go get her ready.” Getting up, she waltzed off humming a tune under her breath as Simon eyed Mal while squeezing his ankle slightly.

“Ow!”

“Get yerself into a fight, Mal?” Jayne commented as he wandered past, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl as he smirked at the view of Mal all helpless. 

Mal sighed. “No Jayne, I didn’t get into a ruckus. And aren’t you supposed to be doing something else?” 

“Nahh,” the muscle answered, leaning against the wall with a smirk as he bit into the fruit and chewed. 

Zoe didn’t say anything as she walked by, ignoring the scene as Wash poked his head into the kitchen and then skedaddled out of there as fast as he could as he took in the stormy look on Mal’s face, the smirking Jayne and the occupied doctor. 

“Well, it’s not broken but you certainly shouldn’t put any weight on it for a while,” Simon finally pronounced. “We’ll know in a few days if it’s only sprained or if its strained. You’ll just have to stay with the ship til it heals.” 

Mal stared at him, before he pulled himself up and eyed the doctor like he’d just grown two heads. “Shen muh?” 

“You need to stay off your ankle,” Simon repeated slower, as if talking to a child…or Jayne. 

“I’m the captain. I can’t just stay around the ship doing ruttin’ all while Badger gives you all the job and you go screw it all up,” Mal protested angrily. 

Simon shrugged, stepping back and crossing his arms casually. “If you say so. “ 

Nodding his head to settle it, Mal put his left foot down and took a step. Taking the step was fine but when he tried to take another step, pain more intense than before turned up and he fell flat on his face right there and then. Laying there as pain shot up and down his foot and leg, he eventually righted himself and sat up. 

“So…a few days?”


End file.
